intro
"Over 5.52 billion people use the Internet in some way, shape, or form. That’s about 68 percent of the world’s population. According to Statista, around 5.22 billion people use social media. Of those users, 89 percent believe social media damages their mental health to some degree. That means that around 4.6 billion people feel that social media is detrimental to their health—but they still use it. But why do people use it if it’s so thoroughly connected to higher rates of depression and anxiety? People have a need to connect with others and form communities, and social media is one of the most readily available methods of doing so. Often, the Internet is the only method of doing so for some. The issue isn’t the use of the Internet itself. The issue is how today’s Internet is exclusively run by money-hungry corporations making platforms as profitable as possible to the detriment of their users. Ten years ago, people weren’t forced to navigate seas of advertising and promotions just to use a website, and people weren't forced to give up their personal information against their will for companies to sell to advertisers. Social media companies program malicious algorithms to push harmful content to users, keeping them online for longer at the cost of their mental health, just so that advertisements get more engagement. It’s clear that the commercialization and privatization of the Internet is directly harmful to users because it promotes harmful content and a toxic Internet culture, prioritizes profit over people, and prevents users from existing online without their personal data being collected and sold behind their backs."
-me, 2024
what should be done
as EPIC wrote, “Congress must enact comprehensive data protection legislation to place strict limits on the collection, processing, use, and retention of personal data by social networks and other entities. The Federal Trade Commission should also make use of its existing authority to rein in abusive data practices by social media companies, and both the FTC and Congress must take swift action to prevent monopolistic behavior and promote competition in the social media market.” read more here
what you can do
online, you can try to opt out of as many data collection and targeted advertising things as possible. you should be able to find a way to do this in the privacy settings of most social media apps, as well as many websites. you should also switch to firefox and install an adblock like ublock origin. this should help out with data privacy. as for mental health i suggest limiting your use of things with really crazy algorithms like tiktok and twitter. i like hanging out on neocities or pinterest, since they dont shove awful things in your face constantly
offline, you should try to find as many hobbies as possible. nothing that you need a phone or computer for. personally i draw and crochet, as well as play an instrument. also go outside once in a while. it sounds stupid but it is so good for you it will genuinely help you so much mentally trust me on this one. also try to get other people to be careful online and take care of themselves as well. it's really important that you try to have a life offline as well as stupid as it sounds. if you cant find a community irl thats okay but you need to try now and again
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS! BOTH STATE AND NATIONAL! URGE THEM TO PASS LEGISLATION PROTECTING INTERNET USER RIGHTS! THE UNITED STATES HAS VERY POOR DATA PROTECTION LAWS COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE WORLD! PROCTECT YOUR RIGHTS!
statement of purpose
all i want from this project is for someone to think a little more carefully about their experiences on the internet. it'd be awesome for you to take charge and make your own website and forget about tiktok or twitter, but i don't expect that from everyone reading this
i think what would really be great is if you took the time to call your state's congressman and legislators to consider introducing a bill to regulate internet business practices and protect user privacy online!
it's important to me that people can still find a place online to form communities and connections. this is why instead of banning certain demographics (like children) from using the web, we should focus on protecting user privacy and making spaces online for everyone. there should be places for kids to exist online without it being on tiktok or something. bring back neopets